Author's note: Thank you all for your reviews... It makes me keep writing. I know you are all interested in finding out what those bruises are, so I'll let you to it!

Disclaimers: If I owned this, I would be re-writing Dumbledore and Sirius in and making Hermione and Ron get together.

Where we left off last time:

"Hermione, what are those bruises on your arm?"

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"I, uh... suddenly don't feel so good," I lied. I rushed from the table and ran upstairs, knowing that everyone was gaping after me.

I followed the familiar path towards Ginny's room, which I had spent many happy summers sharing with her.

Tears spilled from my eyes as I flung myself on her bed, not caring to lock the door. Subconsciously, I wanted someone to come and tell me everything was going to be all right; to hold me and make me feel better. But I knew that I wouldn't allow myself to stoop that low; to let someone else tell me it was all right when I could do that myself, when I knew how to do it myself. I didn't need anyone... I learnt that the hard way...

"Mike, please. Don't do this," I begged, crying slightly.

"Get up you worthless slut. I told you I'm done with you." The way he slurred his words, I knew he was drunk. "You weren't even a good lover."

Neither of those words had hurt me, but what he did next hurt very much so. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me up sharply, forming red marks.

"Please, let me go. You can leave and forget all about me!"

"But you see, I don't want some other bloke to have you. He'll just dispose of you the way I'm going to right now." I saw a scary look in his brown eyes, a look I knew only to well. He wanted to kill me.

"Just let me go!" I cried. "Just leave me alone. You don't have to hurt me!"

"But I want to," he whispered into my ear. I was about to scream when he slapped me across the face. "If you scream, I'll chop your head off." My eyes nearly popped out of my head when Mike took out a knife from his pocket. It wasn't the fact that he had a knife on him that scared me -everyone who lived around here had one to protect themselves against gangs- but the fact that blood was already on it; blood that hadn't totally dried yet.

I banged my arm on the table as he pushed me down, towering above me menacingly.

Just as he was about to drive that knife into me, there was a knock on the door.

"Is everything okay in there?" asked my landlady, Mrs. Gordon.

"Fine," Mike answered.

"Where's Miss Granger?" For once, I was glad that Mrs. Gordon was slightly nosy.

"Here," I squeaked, feeling like I was at school again and my name was being called upon.

"Are you sure you're okay dear? You don't sound too good."

"I'm taking care of her," Mike answered her coolly.

"Okay. Get better dear." I heard the elderly woman's footsteps lead away from my door back to her own.

"Now," Mike said, a scary grin on his face. "Time to finish what I started... Hermione..."

"Hermione!"

I woke up gasping loudly, clutching my chest. I had fallen asleep and I realized that I was drenched in sweat.

"Hermione, are you okay!?" Ginny asked me.

I finally looked up and saw my best friend looking at me with worried eyes.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to slow down my beating heart.

"Hermione, you were screaming 'Please don't kill me'. That doesn't sound 'fine' to me."

Tears threatened to spill again, but I held them back. "It was just a dream," I whispered, more to myself than her. I fiddled with my hands nervously.

"Hermione..."

"Please, Ginny, I'll tell you when I'm ready. Okay?"

I was glad that my red-head friend nodded. "Mum wanted to know if you were still hungry." She lifted up a tray of left-over foods: a bowl of noodle soup, mash potatoes, pork, and for dessert, blood pudding.

I gladly took the tray and started eating. It took me less than five minutes to finish and when I did, I could not remember the last time I had eaten this much.

Ginny sat silent during the entire time I ate. I could tell my friend was thinking of a way to get me to tell all, but I was glad she kept it to herself... for now.

"So..." I could tell this was awkward for the both of us, but not talking to each other for 5 years could do that to even the best of friends.

"Yeah..."

A knock on the door shattered the silence.

"You lot decent in there?" I recognized Ron's voice.

Both he and Harry came in looking worried but neither asked me if I was okay, which I was glad for.

Ginny suddenly got up and walked towards the door. She grabbed Harry's hand as she walked past him and pulled him out with her, leaving Ron and me together in another awkward silence. I wondered for a brief moment if there would be many awkward silences to go through before everything felt normal again, but I answered myself quickly; of course there would be. It was rather obvious.

"Hullo."

"Hi."

"So, um... Was supper good?" he asked, indicated to my empty tray on my lap.

"Yes, very. It's been so long since..." I caught myself before I finished my sentence. I knew I looked like an idiot not finishing what I was saying, but I needed a moment to build up the walls around my heart again.

"Since?" I had momentarily forgotten that Ron was standing not more than three feet from the bed, looking like he wanted to sit with me.

"Since... since... since I've had some of your mother's home-cooked food. It was good!" I grinned my most convincing grin, but I'm pretty sure that Ron saw right through it.

Ron sat down on the end of the bed; far enough not to touch me, but close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him.

"Look Hermione, it's pretty obvious you're hiding something big." I almost snickered, but I somehow kept it to myself. "I get it that you might not feel like sharing, but I just want you to know, I'm always here for you. I've always been and I never will stop. You'll always hold a place in my heart, no matter what happened between us."

I didn't know whether I should slap him or start crying. I choose neither and just nodded. "Thanks, Ron."

He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

I wanted to ask him to stay with me for now- the dream had scared me- but I was too afraid that he would say no.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked, probably noticing the inner battle I was having with myself.

During the war, he could always tell when I needed someone to be with me. He always took it upon himself to stay with me whenever I slept, even if he didn't shut his eyes once that night. He joked that I was more useful because at least I could remember half the spells; we both knew that this wasn't true.

Finally, I gave up and nodded. "Please."

Ron began moving towards the seat he had just vacated, but I moved over so he could sit next to me. "If I'm going to be lying in bed with you, I'd rather we were in my bed."

"Okay," I said, a slight blush forming on my face. I doubt Ron saw it though, for his expression did not change. As I was about to get out of the warmth of Ginny's bed, he came over and slid his arm under me, the other one on my back. Shivers ran down my spine as he picked me up, slowly and gently.

I think he knew that he had to be cautious; those bruises had shown him that. He brought me to his room, a place that felt so familiar yet strange at the same time. I remembered days, years ago where we were awkward teenagers in his room, unsure of how the other felt and what we could do to find out. I remembered how I used to get giddy when he smiled his crooked grin and I wished he would just kiss me. As I got older, kisses turned to touches and touches turned to... something else.

I shook my head free of those thoughts, knowing that we weren't those same kids anymore. We had grown up too quickly and all of a sudden we were both 22, edging closer to 23. I longed to go back to the days where we were those shy teenagers, but I knew that time travel was a pain in the arse and wasn't worth it.

He set me down on his bed, the same Chuddley Cannons posters still surrounding the room. The only difference was that the bed was now a queen and had a dark blue bedcover. His room was still orange, but I didn't mind it at all. It brought even more memories of my childhood and I slowly drifted into sleep, Ron next to me.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Tell me what you think!